The secret desire of every unconverted heart!(Robert Murray M'Cheyne
"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God!' They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good." Psalm 53:1
It is in his heart that he says this. This is the secret desire of every unconverted heart. If the bosom of God were within the reach of men, it would be stabbed a million times in one moment!
When God was manifest in the flesh, He was altogether lovely. He did no sin, and went about continually doing good. Yet they they mocked Him and spat upon Him and crucified Him on the accursed tree! Unconverted men would do the same with God again--if they could.
Learn the fearful depravity of your heart. I venture to say that there is not an unconverted man present, who has the most distant idea of the monstrous wickedness that is now within his bosom. When you are in Hell, it will break out unrestrained.
Yes, you have a heart that would kill God if you could. If the bosom of God were nor within your reach, and one blow would rid the universe of Him--you have a heart fit to do the heinous deed!
_________________________________
Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 30; Mark 15:1-25
Today's Thoughts: Crush, Kill and Destroy
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Peter 5:8
Satan is alive and well. His mission has been the same since the Garden of Eden: to crush, kill and destroy (just like the android on Lost in Space). He is good at twisting concepts and manipulating ideas into truths that are not real. Satan’s battlefield is in your mind and starts within your circumstances. He frustrates your plans, trying to crush that peace within your heart. When your attitudes don’t match, you have just become a hypocrite and Satan loves to make hypocrites out of Christians. Once you are aware of this scheme (which for some of us is a lifetime), you learn to pray and resist him by drawing near to God. You do this by learning how to discipline your behavior and choosing not to allow the fruits of the Spirit to be crushed. Praying, submitting to God and meditating on scripture are the next steps. But then Satan’s next plan of attack hits your mind. Now, Satan cannot read your mind but he can discern what you are thinking by your words and behaviors. He can also put his thoughts into your mind. I have found that many times I don’t need the devil to put bad thoughts into my mind because I can do that all by myself. I am capable of taking my own self out of the ministry or walking away from the Lord, with very little effort or attack from him.
So “be on guard” for Satan is seeking someone, like you, to devour. If you look weak, think weak, act weak, and your words express a weakness in your faith, then you will surely become his next target. Peter warns us to be sober and vigilant. Both words have similar Greek meanings: to watch and keep awake. Obviously, this is more difficult for us because we don’t see into the spiritual realm to understand what’s going on. If we disregard the work of the enemy, we allow him to have the advantage over us.
After we pray, the Lord opens our eyes and gives us discernment to know what’s really going on. Too many Christians are apathetic and complacent. The enemy doesn’t have to bother with an apathetic and complacent Christian. That is just where he wants us to be, but God has so much more for us. The Lord has won the battle; we just have to put the armor on and pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” But when we are tempted, remember 1 John 4:4, “Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.” The Lord wants to give us an abundant life on this earth so why not start living it today!
Our mission is to evangelize the lost and awaken the saved to live empowered lives by the Work of God and His Holy Spirit. Daily Disciples Ministries makes a difference for the kingdom of God by teaching and training believers how to be in God's Word, how to pray and how to walk with Jesus every day, as His daily disciple.
___________________________
God would be voted out of the world!
(Thomas Boston, "Human Nature in its Fourfold State")
"The world . . . hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil." John 7:7
"They have hated both Me and my Father!" John 15:24
"They hated Me without a cause!" John 15:25
"Haters of God." Romans 1:30
"Crucify Him!" they shouted.
"Why? What crime has He committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify Him!" Mark 15:13-14
Men set up for themselves an idol of their own imagination, instead of the true God--and then fall down and worship it.
Every natural man is an enemy to God--as He is revealed in His Word. The infinitely holy, just, powerful, and true God--is not the God whom he loves, but the God whom he loathes! The Pagans finding that they could not be like God in holiness, made their gods like themselves in filthiness; and thereby they show what sort of a god the natural man would have. God is holy and just; can an unholy creature love His unspotted holiness?
There is not a man, who is wedded to his lusts, as all the unregenerate are--but would desire to blot out the God of justice. Can the malefactor love his condemning judge? Can a heinous sinner love a just and holy God? No, he cannot!
Men naturally would rather have a blind idol--than the all-seeing God! They no more love the all-seeing, everywhere present God--than the thief loves to have the judge witness to his evil crimes. If it could be carried by votes, God would be voted out of the world; for the language of the carnal heart is, "Leave us alone! We have no desire to know Your ways!" Job 21:14
"The carnal mind is a mass of downright, undiluted enmity to the Most High God. Such a mind is opposed, not merely to the things of God, the laws of God, and the truth of God--but to God Himself!"
No comments:
Post a Comment